JIBO is the first family friendly robot

JIBO is said to be the first family friendly robot and it looks like a cross between the Apple iMac G4 and the Luxo Jr lamp from Pixar. The robot is an interactive electronic friend which has been specifically designed to engage with people in an almost human like way. It can undertake various roles in the home, including being a companion at bedtime for children (as it can read stories), remind you of upcoming events, control the household environment, deliver mail and also be a security camera.

Jibo has internet connectivity and has sound effects along with graphics and movement that allow him to mimic reactions along with emotions. All this goes towards making the robot more personal. The face of Jibo is a display which is able to show a range of emoticons alongside messages and reminders. For example, it has an eye that is able to blink when new mail arrives. It can also make use of animations as a way of bringing a story to life.

The body of the Jibo robot is made of aluminium and is touch sensitive. It can rotate on the spot and swivel around thanks to a three axis motor system meaning that Jibo is able to turn around to look at the person who is talking, frame a photograph that it is taking as well as with being able to “dance” along with music being played.

The robot stands 11 inches tall, is 6 inches around its base and has a weight of 6lbs. Construction is aluminium along with ABS plastic and glass and it comes with a high resolution LED display. The power behind Jibo is an ARM processor and the OS is Linux. Data is stored in the Jibo cloud automatically.

While Jibo doesn’t move, thanks to three motors and a belt system, he can rotate sections of the body that are moveable. The robot comes with connectivity options such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which it uses to check email accounts and announce the messages as soon as they arrive.

Jibo robot features two colour stereo cameras that can follow the motion of people and although the robot is plugged into the mains electricity for the majority of time, it does have a battery pack that allows for 30 minutes cord-free use. There are numerous microphones along with sensors located on the body and these offer touch interaction.

Jibo is able to follow faces of people and also identify them; he can react to voice commands and is able to change how he responds based on knowledge stored about different members of the family thanks to its learning system.

The Jibo team will allow developers to access the functions of Jibo through an SDK kit when a developer’s package is purchased. This and the community is said to help when it comes to improving the personal capabilities of Jibo.

Jibo has been designed by Cynthia Breazeal, a roboticist from MIT and at the moment the project is part of a crowd funding campaign. The Jibo robot can be pre-ordered for US$499 and shipping will take place in 2015. The developer package will be available for $599, which includes the full SDK along with access to the developer program, which is to ship during the latter half of 2015.